1202:11/16 BGM Item 8c –Report of the Interim General Secretary- Staff Reports Board of General Ministries Reports: ABCUSA-Office of the General Secretary and Associated Ministry Organizations TREASURER’S OFFICE Highlights of Treasurer’s Office, Accounting, American Baptist Churches Information System, Building Management, Traffic, AMOs -- June 2016 – November 2016 ABCUSA Prepared 2017 Budget for Board approval at November meeting Preparing for 2016 year-end closing Annual insurance reviews/renewals Prepared and presented Analyses and Financial Statements to BGM/ABCUSA Finance Committees, BGM and BGM EC; staffed meetings Oversaw work of legal counsel in several areas Personnel supervision for Accounting, ABCIS, Building Management and Warehousing Planned changes in traffic department due to planned outsourcing of Judson services Ongoing ABCIS functions Assisted with Human Resources transition Represented NEC at ABHS Board meeting in Atlanta Regions: Conferred with Regions and churches on financial and administrative issues Ongoing collecting agency responsibilities for 13 regions Attend ABC of Maine annual meeting Negotiated contract to perform accounting services for PBA ASSOCIATED MINISTRY ORGANIZATIONS (AMOs) (AB Historical Society, AB Women’s Ministries, Ministers Council, AB Computer Center) Accounting functions, ongoing consultations, insurance reviews, leasing renewals, quarterly meetings with AMO executives re: financial and operational matters 588 ASSOCIATES 2015 Tax Returns; accounting functions Leasing and building management; received lease renewals/non-renewal for 2017-19 Insurance reviews/renewals 588 Associates Annual Meeting with 588 Board, and real estate consultants/advisors Reviewed and analyzed best and final offers presented by final potential joint venture development partners Participated in planning of Real Estate Council meeting. Finalized work with 588 legal counsel to settle property taxes. Supervision of building administrative staff and day-to-day operations -- Alan Musoke, Associate General Secretary for Finance/CFO/Treasurer BGM Item 8c 1202:11/16 OFFICE OF DEVELOPMENT Department of Development Office (DOD) Skeletal Report: January 1, to September 30, 2016 Summary Highlights: $39,523 Raised in Pledges and gifts Responsibilities: MG Prospect Identification/Research/Development/Cultivation/Solicitation; Development Advisory Team Resourcing; Transformed by the Spirit; General Secretary’s Circle; Enhancement of Plan Giving Opportunities; ABWIM ACCESS; Department/Office Administration; and other duties as assigned. General Highlights & Action Steps Funds Raised (excludes Targeted 2015 Biennial Items shown below) $39,523 o General Secretary’s Circles $ 3,949 o Transformed by the Spirit (TbyS) $ 1,375 o Charitable Trusts (ABF Expectancy ABC Allocation) $20,000 o Other Targeted Giving $13,427 o Peace Initiatives $ 147 o Other Contributions $ 625 Current ABWIM ACCESS Appeal Results as of October 31, 2016, excluded above: o Total Raised $19,350 o # of Gifts 21 o Avg. Gift $921 o % of $50k Goal 39% o Balance to $50k Minimum Goal $30,650 o Total Prospects Assigned 80 o Required to Public Announcement $40,000 minimum Cultivate & solicit visits with top individual prospects; Research/ Review/Evaluate Top Individual Prospects ($10k+ Ability); Regional (Area) Events / Visits – ABCOFLASH, ABCRMT, ABCCR, ABCOTS, ABCOPAD, ABCRI, DCBC, Evergreen, ABCMC, ABCCT, ABCOH, ABCPBA; Plan ABCUSA Giving Tuesday Fund-drive (December 1, 2015); Preliminary Prep 2016 Year-End Donor Letters of Recognition/Thanks/Follow-up; Submit 2017 ABCUSA/OGS/DOD Budget with Fundraising Goals; Attend various ABCUSA, Partner and Affiliate meetings (ABF, McKee, ABCOTS, CCC/TSPM, etc.); Continue to review internal controls, checks & balances as well as database reporting metrics; Facilitate two Development Advisory Team Meetings (Strategy, Logistics, etc.); 2 BGM Item 8c 1202:11/16 Plan and Conduct ABCUSA Year-end Pledge Drive (November – December); Plan and develop 2017 Biennial branding and marketing resources (ad, exhibitors, etc.); Provide ABWIM Leadership in the launch of inaugural 2016 Annual Appeal - ACCESS; Continue development of sundry strategic fundraising operational plans and procedures; and Refine Naming Opportunities (GS Circles & Mission Center). --Kenneth C. Marsenburg, Director of Development & Evon Moody, Assistant to the Director OFFICE OF REGIONAL MINISTRIES Sabbatical Report from Jeff Woods October 1, 2016 First of all, I want to thank those who approved my sabbatical study leave for July thru September of 2016. I greatly appreciated receiving this opportunity. I have detailed some highlights of my sabbatical time below. Regional and Denominational Work Due to the small number of staff in the Office of the General Secretary, I agreed to respond to emails, phone calls, and other inquiries related to my position and meet the ongoing needs of the regions while on sabbatical. The sabbatical took the form of a partial study leave and largely consisted of the opportunity not to schedule regional training events or interventions during the sabbatical period and rather, to focus upon the exploration of topics for future resourcing. Those topics will be addressed in a moment. First, I will detail work conducted that is an ongoing part of my regional and denominational work. Regional Searches In responding to the ongoing needs of regions, I responded to several calls and emails related to selecting an interim executive minister for two regions that had open searches in this area, namely Chicago and Connecticut. ABC of Chicago selected Doug Harris and Carol McVetty to jointly fill this position and ABC of Connecticut selected Ken Williams, former executive minister for ABC of Rochester/Genesee. After securing interims for these roles, I met with the executive minister search committee for the Connecticut region to orient them to their work. The first meeting of the Chicago search committee will take place after the sabbatical as will launches for the executive minister search committees of ABCOFLASH and the Evergreen Association of ABC. Executive Minister Evaluations Two executive minister performance reviews were scheduled to take place during the sabbatical. In keeping with common practice, I created, administered, and compiled the performance evaluation reports for the executive minister of ABC of Philadelphia and the executive minister of ABC of Metro New York. 3 BGM Item 8c 1202:11/16 Board and Staff Work I attended an OGS staff retreat focusing upon the work of the new Interim AGS for Mission Resource Development, Al Fletcher. This proved to be a good time to catch up on other topics as well. Near the end of the sabbatical, I received a request to help evaluate the progress of the Board of General Ministries, by designing and distributing a survey, the results of which will be disseminated at the November Board of General Ministries meeting. To conduct this task, I reviewed the minutes of the BGM meeting where the request arose, read several new articles on board development, and reviewed the ABC bylaw sections related to BGM. I circulated the survey for feedback prior to the end of the sabbatical. I also put together a PowerPoint presentation on the roles and functions of boards that I can use with regional boards as well as the Board of General Ministries if desired. Sabbatical Topics of Study The Sparks of God While on sabbatical, I explored several topics that had previously surfaced, but for which I had not had time to investigate more fully. One of these is what I call, “The Spark of Innovation.” I have increasingly been referring to the initial contact of God and people as a spark that can be fanned, cultivated or squelched once present. While on sabbatical I studied scripture looking for examples of what happens to such sparks in the Bible. I discovered several insights, including the following: If we choose to respond to a spark that God created, our lives will most assuredly be disrupted. People often focus upon a distraction rather than the spark of God and sometimes try to squelch the spark. When we are the ones who approach God, faith is influential is creating a spark. Sparks in the book of Acts often created a new sense of community. I particularly found the books of Matthew and Acts very engaging in this study. I plan to draw from this material at pastors conferences, sermons, etc. Innovation Closely linked to the topic of the spark of God is the topic of innovation. I met with a few people currently engaging this topic and read several articles related to innovation in organizations. Much of the reading confirmed what I had been discerning through scripture and prayer. I plan to disseminate these findings on innovation through my monthly REMC E-Topic articles. One book that I found particularly helpful was Brian Robertson’s book on Holacracy. I also plan to collaborate with a UCC conference minister on a project related to, “Creating the space for innovation.” Search Committee Interview Questions Regional executive minister search committees receive an entire set of guidelines to conduct their work. Last year, I revised these guidelines, but wanted to enhance one particular section of these guidelines related to sample interview questions. I read a few books on interviewing and surfaced several new sample questions that search committees can pose to potential candidates. 4 BGM Item 8c 1202:11/16 Story Beneath the Story I continued work on a topic that begun several